Bengals claw past Bills in possible playoff preview
The Bills came into week nine of the National Football League (NFL) season having just taken down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an effort to right the ship and turn around their middling season. After having done that, the team set their sights on another conference contender as they took on the Cincinnati Bengals during Sunday Night Football on Nov. 5.
Cincinnati, in their home stadium, returned the opening kickoff and quickly made their way downfield. The opening possession lasted nearly six minutes and was highlighted by long passes from quarterback Joe Burrow who played most of the night while dealing with a hand injury. The drive resulted in a seven-yard touchdown reception by tight end Irv Smith Jr. to put the Bengals on top early.
Buffalo responded promptly, though, and took only three minutes off the clock while working 85 yards down the field. Quarterback Josh Allen found receivers Stefon Diggs and Khalil Shakir on passes longer than 20 yards to put the team in position to score before Allen took off on his own and tallied a two-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game at seven.
Halfway through the first quarter, the Bengals’ offense regained possession and put together an 11-play drive that cut through Buffalo’s defense. A combination of medium passes along with short gains on the ground brought the team to the two-yard line. Running back Joe Mixon took the ball and ran past the left guard and into the endzone to put the Bengals back in the lead.
Several punts and an interception by Allen gave the ball back to Cincinnati with under four minutes remaining in the second quarter. The team’s offense drove right through Buffalo’s front seven and moved down the field with a series of quick passes. Burrow found tight end Drew Sample who evaded defenders and worked to the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown.
Unable to make up any deficit before halftime, the Bills received the ball to open the second half and put together 11 plays in an attempt to score for just the second time in the game. The team made their way to Cincinnati's 16-yard line before progress was halted and they were forced to settle for a 34-yard field goal.
The remainder of the third quarter was largely uneventful with both teams punting, the Bengals turning the ball over on downs, and Bills rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid fumbling a pass over the middle.
The Bengals worked the clock down to eight minutes left in the fourth quarter thanks to a 12-play, 85-yard drive that saw large gains on passes to receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. The team settled for a 20-yard field goal to go up by two touchdowns late in the game.
Buffalo did what they could as quarterback scrambles and short passes moved the team into the red zone in four minutes. Allen found Diggs in the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown before converting on a two-point conversion in the same fashion to bring the score to 24-18.
With the Bills needing a stop on defense to have any chance to win, the Bengals and Burrow tore through the squad once more and sealed the victory on three straight quarterback kneels. The loss moved Buffalo to 5-4 on the season and back into a position in the middle of their divisional standings.
Buffalo will next face the 3-5 Denver Broncos in another primetime matchup during Monday Night Football on Nov. 13.